Railway car oiling service truck



Aug. 21, 1951 J. LAVALLEE RAILWAY CAR OILING SERVICE TRUCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 24, 1948 I fnye 07' (70/221 [aQ/aZZee 1951 J. LAVALLEE 2,565,179

RAILWAY CAR OILING SERVICE TRUCK Filed Nov. 24, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 52 50 24 g ia 10 l 12ml]! WWW" H 44 l i 20 i 1 fig 3% i8 Patented Aug. 21, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAIEWAY CAR OILING? SERVICE TIt-UCK John Lavallee, Outremont; Quebec; Canada Application November 24, 1948, Serial'N-o: 61,751

4' Claims. 1 Intreduction This invention relates to mobile servicing units and more particularly" units or this nature used for servicing railway cars.

At the present time, the 011' impregnated waste or's'tuifing' used to pack the journal boxes of railway cars is generally made up at a; central depot andis" then placed into an empty oil drum or the like so that it may be transported out to the yards or the sho s for subsequent insertion into the journaI boxes of the cars. A main disadvantage of this system is that if the drum or other container is allowed to stand for some time before-the shining is used, the 011 with which the cotton waste is impregnated, seeps down through the waste so that the upper layers of stuffi'ng are nearly dry and the bottom layersare practically saturated" with oil. This is" particularly t'r'ue" in hot or humid weather as may be encountered in the summer months, and the stumngmust be dumped from the drum and remixed'out'in the yard to redistribute the oil before the packin is ready for use. Whilethe same problem exists to a lesser extent in the Winter, a further problem added by the cold which causes-theoil in the waste to solidify, making it necessary at timesto havethe' drum and its contents-heated in some way before the Stu-fling is in a serviceable condition.

The present invention recognizes these problems' and 'itaims topr'ovide' a compact mobile unit for use servicing rail-way car journal boxes which includes means whereby the material carr'i'ed by the unit is kept in serviceable condition under all climatic conditions as may cause varied temperature changes.

Ap licants development The invention is .a mobile service unit for transporting oil impregnated packing or stuihing used to pack the journal boxes on railway cars. According to the' invention a'service truck is pro vided tha'tincl'udes means whereby the material employed for servicingthe journal boxes is read ily' accessible to the car men performing these duties, and also means whereby the packing or stufiing is kept in serviceable condition under varied conditions of temperature.

More specifically, a preferred form of the appara-"bus according to" the invention, includes a truckframe on which there is mounted a receptacle body adapted to hold the premixed stufiing or packing. Also mounted on the frame and below the receptacle body is a coextensive oil receiving sump which is divided internally from .2. the" container body bya'wire mesh partition. A fl'uid 'p'ump is mounted in the receptacle and is connected with a conduit" having one end disposed adjacent the bottom of the oil sump and extending vertically of the: receptacle to a point above the normal levelof stuinng placed within In order to overcome the problem or solidification: of the oildu'e t0- trigid temperatures a heating unit is also' provided which" includes a heating coil that projects intothe oil sump so as tobe adjacent to; or" immersed in, the oil. This onsures that when the service truck is used under winter conditions, the consistency of the oilwill be kept su'flicientl'y fluid so as to be easily pumped for redistribution; and moreover, the presence at the heating coir beneath the stufling receptacle keeps the receptacle and the material contained therein at a surficientl y high temperature so that the stufii rig is always readyfor insertion into the journal boxes.-

The preferred construction of the service truck includes wheels similar totho's'e' at present used on railway baggage trucks or the like, and a draw bar'is providedso that the unit may be drawn by hand or'tractor'"to-the portionof the railway yards or shops where" the servicing is required. It" is also 'contemplatcd'iri this respect that the wheels maybe replaced by'runne'rs" for winter use in snow covered yards;

Means are provided on the preferredconstructionof the-service truck ior'carryi'ng aremovable receptacle in which used packing may be'deposi-tedand space is also provided for the packing hooks and irons, journal jacks; journal bearing wedges and; other materials used in servicing the railway car journal boxes. Oil level gauges are also provided that extend exteriorly of the oil sumpso' that the operator may ascertain the level of the oil contained inth'e sump so that he can, when necessary, redistribute the oil by working the fluid pump;

Defailed'desc'ription Having thus generally described the nature of the invention particular reference will be made to the accompanying drawings; and in: which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in perspective of a preferred form of a railway service truck constructed according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the preferred form of service truck as it may be converted for winter use.

Figure 3 is a section of Figure along the lines 3--3 to further illustrate the construction thereof.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view of a section of an oil carrying conduit illustrating the preferred arrangement of holes to produce the spraying effect.

Figure 5 is a view in side elevation and partially in section of the apparatus of Figure 1, illustrating the arrangement of receptacle and oil sump.

Figure 6 is a view in plan elevation, partially in section, of the service truck, corresponding to Figure 5.

Figure 7 is an enlarged'detail view, partially in section of a lower portion ofv the service truck illustrating a preferred arrangement of heating apparatus and oil level gauges.

With particular reference to Figures 1 and 5 of the drawings, the preferred construction of a service truck illustrated includes a main frame In on which there is mounteda body H! which includes a coextensive lower tank portion 15. The body [2 and the tank [5 are divided by a partition IE to form a stufilng receptacle l8 and a coextensive oil sump 20. The front portion of the body I2 and the tank [5 extending beyond the partition l6 provides a storage space 22 for tools or materials used for servicing the journal boxes,

and a compartment 24 for housing a heating unit 26 respectively.

The frame In is mounted for movement on rear wheels [4 and front'wheels l3. Preferably the front wheels [3 are smaller in diameter than the rear wheels and are pivotally mounted so as to clear the frame 10 to give the service truck the maximum of leeway or turning movement. It is also contemplated that the wheels [4 and I3 could be replaced by suitable runners, as shown in Figure 2, if it is desired to use the service truck outdoors under snowy conditions.

The receptacle I8, in which the stuifing or packing is placed after premixing at a central depot, is provided with hinged closures 30 so that the material can be easily put in or taken out as required. This receptacle I8 is divided from the oil sump 20 by a partition 32 which extends completely across the inner area. Preferably the partition 32 is made of wire mesh screening of a mesh that is sufficiently small to prevent portions of the stufiing from falling into the sump 20, and sufficiently large to allow the oil to pass freely therethrough. A fluid pump 34 is positioned within the receptacle I8 and is connected to a conduit 36. The lower end of the conduit 36 is located adjacent the bottom of the oil sump 20 and it extends vertically of the oil sump 2B and receptacle I8 to a position above the normal level of .stufiing that may be placed in the receptacle [8 and at which point it is connected to a second conduit 38. The conduit 38 which extends longitudinally of the receptacle body is closed at the extreme ends by caps or plugs 39, and includes a plurality of spaced apart openings 40 along a major portion of its length. These are designed to disperse the oil pumped from the oil sump 29 in a spraylike form, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, in order to obtain maximum redistribution of the oil on the upper layers of packing.

Thefluid pump 34 may be of any of the usual types of manually operated fluid pumps. The pump 34 illustrated is of the reciprocating type operated through a handle 42 which extends exteriorly of the receptacle l8 to a position where it is readily accessible to the operator. A pair of oil gauges 44 also extend exteriorly of the oil sump 2?] at both sides of the vehicle so that the operator can determine by the amount of oil indicated as being in the oil sump 20, as to whether or not it is necessary to redistribute the oil by actuating the pump 34.

The heating unit 26 which may be installed or removed as required, depending on temperature conditions, includes a wick type oil burner 46 having a control knob 48 extending exteriorly of the compartment 24. This is adapted to supply heat to a heating coil 59 which contains a suitable fluid that will circulate within the coil 56 to transfer the heat to the oil contained within the oil sump 2a in which it is located. The usual safety measures are provided on the heating coil to take care of overheating and excess pressure and a layer of asbestos 52 or other insulating material is placed over the compartment 24 and under the floor boards 54 to guard against pos sible overheating by the burner 46. As the truck body, and frame, are preferably made of heavy gauge metal the potential fire hazards are thus reduced to a minimum.

A further feature contained in the preferred construction of the service truck is a frame 55 which extends at the rear of the frame in and provides a support upon which an empty oil drum or the like can be carried by the unit to provide a receptacle for the used packing withdrawn from the journal boxes. Hinged plates 53 provide a supporting means for a bucket or other receptacle to facilitate the removal of quantities of the stuffing as required, and a drawbar is attached to the frame 62 on which the front wheels 13 are mounted so that the service truck can be drawn and steered, either manually or by the tractors usually employed in the railway yards.

' Operation When the service truck is in use the premixed stuffing, which generally comprises oil impregnated cotton waste, is initially dumped into the receptacle [8. The truck is then drawn to the yards or shops where it is necessary to do the servicing. When the oil gauges 44 indicate that a sufiicient quantity of oil has seeped through the packing to render the upper layers unserviceable, the operator actuates the pump 34 to redistribute the oil from the sump 28 through the conduits 36, 38 in spray form over the upper layers of packing. This operation is repeated as necessary till the stuffing contained within the receptacle I8 is depleted.

Under winter conditions, the heating unit provides a means whereby the oil is kept in a fluid condition and so the packing carried by the serve ice truck is kept serviceable under all working conditions. This presents a distinct advantage over the presentsystem of handling the material used for the purpose of stufiing or packing the journal boxes as the remixing, heating and other unnecessary handling of the packing is completely eliminated. A further advantage of the present arrangement is that the stufling is placed in and used from a container from which dirt and grime are substantially excluded, thus minimizing the possibility of the stufling picking up foreign matter which might be injurious to journal bearings.

frame, axles mounted on the frame, ground con tacting members journalled on the axles, an overall body mounted on the frame, said body enclosing adjacent to a lower portion thereof a tank constituting an oil sump, and above said oil sump a waste receptacle, said waste receptacle having an oilpervious floor through which oil may escape to the tank while the waste is retained on the floor, a conduit having an inlet within said tank and extending from adjacent the bottom of said tank to a position adjacent the top of said receptacle, a distributing head connected to the conduit and extending above the interior of the receptacle over a substantial area thereof, a manually operable fluid pump connected to said conduit within said receptacle and having an operating handle protruding from said body to provide an operator ready access thereto, whereby oil gravitating from said waste into said tank can be pumped from said tank to said distributing head and thus redistributed over said waste.

2. A mobile unit according to claim 1 in which the tank has a bottom which slopes downwardly to have its inlet adjacent the rear of the tank.

'3. A mobile unit according to claim 1 in which the body also encloses a heating chamber adjoining said tank, said heating chamber includes a heating element, and heating means from said element extends within said tank to heat the oil therein.

4. A mobile unit according to claim 1, in which the distributing head includes a pipe having spaced apart perforations constituting spray nozzles.

JOHN LAVALLEE.

REFERENCES CETED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,153,690 Johnson et al Sept. 14, 1915 1,258,203 Dudley Mar. 5, 1918 1,280,492 Kip et a1. Oct. 1, 1918 1,483,362 McCarthy Feb. 12, 1924 1,613,736 Andresen Jan. 11, 1927 1,723,747 Pearce Aug. 6, 1929 1,789,953 Jefferson Jan. 10, 1931 1,807,600 Pearce June 2, 1931 1,964,523 McConnaughay June 26, 1934 2,264,828 Crum Dec. 2, 1941 

